A joint team of the ED and the CBI is in London to brief UK prosecution, working on the extradition of fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya, and submit fresh proof in the case, officials said on Wednesday. The visiting officials of the two central probe agencies will also submit the charge-sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the case last month in Mumbai, said a senior official in the Mallya probe team.
“The Indian investigators will also brief Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) officials about the contents of the ED charge-sheet and the evidence produced in it. Some other legal issues will also be discussed,” the official said. The CPS will argue the case in the court on behalf of the Indian government.The official added that the ED’s legal advisor will explain in detail the charges made out against Mallya, some more evidence, attachments made by it and other legal points mentioned in the charge-sheet filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED will also seek cooperation from countries like France, Singapore, Mauritius, Ireland, the US and the UAE to probe certain transactions and the shell companies involved. Nine accused have been named in the charge-sheet filed by the ED. The list includes Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), United Breweries (Holding) Limited and senior employees and executives of the now-defunct airline and the IDBI (Industrial Development Bank of India) bank.
The agency has called Mallya “prime mover of the entire plot” in the charge-sheet and described how funds obtained from the bank loan were allegedly routed illegally, including “substantial payments” being diverted to the Formula-1 car racing event abroad. Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines’ default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000 crore, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18.
A United Kingdom court recently rejected Mallya’s request to shift the final hearing date in his extradition case to next year and fixed it for December 4.Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are probing Mallya and others for alleged charges of corruption and money laundering.
